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Architecture students’ attitudes toward emergency distance education and elements affecting their success in design studios: a sample from Turkey

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in almost every field globally and has also caused significant revisions in the education process of many disciplines, including architecture. The transition of the programs in architecture schools worldwide to distance education in 2020 has created an extraordinary experience of designing lectures for distance education apart from traditional methods. The current study examined the attitudes of students, who are thought to be most affected by this pandemic process, toward distance education in terms of the usefulness of and preference for distance education, the feeling of lack of social presence, and the preference for face-to-face education. This study also sought the factors affecting the success of students in design studios. The opinions of 970 students studying design at 20 universities in Turkey were sought. This mixed method study revealed that, together with the pandemic, distance education closely affected student success, especially in faculties where design courses are given. The attitudes of male students studying architecture are significantly more positive toward distance education compared to those of female students. The results illustrated that students with adequate Internet access also have better views on the usefulness of distance education compared to those with insufficient internet access. As the students’ grade level in the faculty of architecture increased, their attitudes toward distance education changed positively. The overall results reveal that traditional education promotes student creativity and design capacity significantly in all departments associated with design and architecture. The findings of the present study underline the need for revisions in educational institutions with design formation, including schools of architecture, in terms of teaching methods for design lectures, thereby increasing and improving the quality of education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, Firat University, 23119, Elazig, Turkey

    Betul Bektas Ekici

  2. Department of Architecture, Balıkesir University, Balıkesir, Turkey

    Nihal Arda Akyildiz

  3. Department of Educational Administration, Firat University, 23119, Elazig, Turkey

    Songul Karabatak

  4. Department of Education Programs and Teaching, Firat University, 23119, Elazig, Turkey

    Muslim Alanoglu

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  1. Betul Bektas Ekici
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Appendix

Appendix

Attitude towards distance education scale

Instructions:

This scale measures the attitudes of individuals towards distance education. The scale consists of 16 items and measures positive and negative attitudes. These:

Positive Attitude: Usability (M1, M3, M5, M7, M9, M11, M16) and Distance Education Preference (M2, M12, M14) sub-dimensions.

Negative Attitude: Lack of Social Presence (M4, M8, M13, M15) and Face-to-face Education Preference (M6, M10) sub-dimensions.

A total score is obtained for each sub-dimension in the scale. There is no reverse item.

ID

Item

M1

Distance education provides equal opportunity in education

M2

Certificates/diplomas obtained in distance education are no different from those obtained in face-to-face education

M3

Distance education provides the opportunity to study at my own learning pace

M4

Listening alone is boring

M5

I would like to determine my own working hours with distance education

M6

Having a fixed course schedule in terms of study discipline increases my motivation to work

M7

Working with a teaching style/strategy that suits me increases my success

M8

I am worried about not being able to reach the course teacher/responsible in distance education

M9

Distance education saves time

M10

As in face-to-face education, a fixed lesson schedule helps me to work regularly

M11

I would like to participate in courses/classes that are not nearby by distance education

M12

I can express myself more easily in a virtual environment

M13

In distance education, I find it difficult to communicate well with the course teacher

M14

It is easier to learn with distance education

M15

I find it difficult to make friends with my virtual classmates

M16

Distance education is more economical

Open-ended questions

Please write clearly what you think about the following questions:

  1. 1.

    What do you think should be done to increase the effectiveness of remote design studios?

  2. 2.

    What do you think are the factors affecting student success in remote design courses?

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Bektas Ekici, B., Akyildiz, N.A., Karabatak, S. et al. Architecture students’ attitudes toward emergency distance education and elements affecting their success in design studios: a sample from Turkey. Int J Technol Des Educ 34, 853–873 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-023-09842-w

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